Japan’s Softbank eyes 30 megawatt solar project

Japan’s third largest mobile phone company decides that green is good.

Softbank Corporation and Japanese trading company Mitsui & Company are exploring a joint partnership to build a 30-megawatt solar power plant to take advantage of a feed-in tariff program that will pay above-market rates for solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy.

The project will be handled by SB Energy Corporation, Softbank’s clean energy unit. Sources, however, said a final decision on the project hasn’t been made. The companies plan to start operating the project around summer in 2013.

SB Energy recently announced plans to build four solar power stations in central and western Japan with a combined capacity of 12.2 megawatts. The company plans to build a total of 200 megawatts of solar projects.

SoftBank Corporation is a Japanese telecommunications and Internet firm with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, technology services, finance, media and marketing and others. It had a market capitalization of some US$43.5 billion in March 2011.